If you've never seen or done the stuff before it's pretty impressive to watch. Some parts of the film show too many split-second clips of too many riders landing one and only one drop each with nothing technical leading up to or coming after it. Talk about desensitization. The overall length is only 40 minutes; we can afford to take some extra time and watch some of these guys riding real stretches of trails.

Speaking of which Wade and Richie are fluid. They just kinda cruise casual and make jumps out of anything. You can totally see how much smoother they are than some of the others. I really dug that stretch in Turkey, and the song there was pretty cool just by the fact that it was modern and 3rd-world at the same time.

I didn't think the rest of the music was uniformly bad, but some of it did suck. The music on the shore clip ruined what could (might/should/conceivably under the constraint that Wade was splotched all over the place/etc.etc.) have been the highlight of the film.

Bottom line, I've watched it a half dozen times across this one month and it's solidified my decision to get a freeride bike. I've got a lot of full-feature movies I haven't watched half as much and you won't find me buying any lightsabers, either.

Strengths: Awesome freeride sections by the one and only Wade Simmons!!! Jaw dropping trials by Ryan Leech!!! Nice soundtrack accompaning the video, with hard rock rap group "One Minute Silence" at the start of the video with "A Waste of Things to Come", and in Peru with "Stuck Between a Hard Place with a White Face". Other highly recommended riders such as Richie Schley and Brett Tippie deserve a mention.

Weaknesses: Not ENOUGH freeriding featured by Wade Simmons (they should feature the whole video on him instead!!! Damn he's awesome!!!). Many sections such as the "Kranked 3" arcade game sections could have been cut out. The video is WAY too short for the price you pay. Big names such as Steve Peat, Brian Lopes, Eric Carter, S.Palmer only appear on screen for about less than 6 seconds (section on Steve Peat consisted of him jumping off a building and that was it). Video quality was a bit dodgey in some sections for the cost the video cost to make. Also NOT ENOUGH Exotic Locations!!!

Bottom Line:

Overall a nicely constructed video (minus the stupid pathetic arcade game storyline). Top riders could have been featured more instead of various riders which their names weren't even given a mention. Video should be more focused on Wade Simmons, Richie Schley, Ryan Leech, Steve Peat, Brian Lopes... You get the point since the Kranked series are suppose to be "freeride" videos.

Strengths: the talent of these guys is unbeleivable, some of the stuff they are riding is so large, makes you wnat to get out there and ride. Also big budget (relative)

Weaknesses: need to use the budget better, some of the camera work was less than exciting, to say the lest, the riding kept me watching, I am sure they could be more inventive and exciting. (you guy's need to watch any of the sprung videos)

Strengths: The filthiest riding. Great riders. High production quality.

Weaknesses: Many sequences cut too rapidly so the vid doesn't flow and has an annoying flickery MTV feel. Tedious techno and trance soundtrack, ugh! Animation and bizarre dress up sequences an utter failure and waste minutes that a vid this brief can't afford to waste. Never thought I'd say it, but there are too many gnarly drops... they become ho hum.

Bottom Line:

The film makers got it wrong. Too much flickery fast cuts like fanning through a bike mag really fast. That together with the techno sounds creates a funky, exciting vid but it has no soul. Too slick. The animation and dressups are ridiculous. I agree with the Scot, with the riders, locations and budget the film makers had they could have made an all time classic. They missed their chance because they tried to be too clever. What a waste. It includes a lot of unforgettable action (love that vertical drop to tree tackle) but is let down by stupid irrelevent sections all the way through and way too fast editing.